Happy Endings

At age nine, I lived for recess For ten-thirty in the morning When all schoolwork suddenly vanished Like the lights did whenever we watched a movie And all of us swarmed like ants from our classrooms With clumsy feet and ear-to-ear smiles

The scorching sun made the monkey bars hot But it didn't stop us for a second The zip line was too high I couldn't even reach it if I jumped

The tree branches in the corner were a cave Relief from the glowing furnace in the sky They came down low so I could reach them I spent a lot of time there on my own It was my pride and joy And I thought highly of myself for finding such a place in a mere playground

The playground's platform was a pirate ship And its steps were the plank The rock-climbing wall was the center, the sail We climbed up to the tallest point and proclaimed “Land ho!” as we sailed through the wood chips Our hands cupped around our eyes were binoculars, and they worked quite well

Recess was for running and playing and laughing And for living Every second was ours until the bell marched us back to class

We made up pretend fantasies and played with “what if” There was no plot or conflict to our story Just us and happy endings

At age nine, I lived for art For painting with watercolors And capturing the beauty of a simple sun and its squiggly orange rays on a canvas For having my mom display it on our wall for the world to see

There was no sadness or despair. No darkness. No reality. Just flowers and butterflies, bright colors and smiles.